Tesla is going to focus on Model Y production at its newly confirmed Gigiafactory 4 to be built in the Berlin area and they will also produce batteries and powertrains at the new European factory.
With Fremont factory and Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai first producing Model 3 vehicles, Tesla Gigafactory 4 will be the automaker’s first factory to first focus on Model Y production, which is expected to first start in Fremont next year.
Fremont is already able to produce over 6,000 Model 3 vehicles per week and Gigafactory 3 is going to add 3,000 units to that, which is going to free up some of Fremont’s Model 3 production capacity meant for China to other markets, like Europe.
Then, Tesla is just now starting to deploy new Model Y production capacity so it might as well deploy it at the new factory.
Also, Elon keeps saying that the demand for the Model Y could be much higher than Model 3.
I am excited for Gigafactory 4 because I think it’s going to light a fire under German automakers.
Tesla is well-positioned to build a very efficient Gigafactory in Germany with its manufacturing robotic group formed from the Grohmann acquisition, which is also located in the country.
Elon also mentioned “batteries” to be produced at the plant without confirming if it’s going to be battery cells, but it sounds likely.
It’s going to be an exciting year for Tesla in Europe.
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Dean Foods on Tuesday announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The Dallas-based milk processor said that it plans to use the Chapter 11 proceedings to keep running the business, and address debt and unfunded debt obligations as it seeks to sell the company. Dean Foods has secured commitments for $850 million in debtor-in-possession financing, a type of funding for companies in financial distress.
Customers are expected to receive their dairy products without any interruptions.
Dean Foods also said that it is engaged in "advanced discussions" with Dairy Farmers of America about selling "substantially" all of its assets. Even if both parties agree to the sale, the transaction would be subject to receiving higher or better offers while the company is in bankruptcy.
In September, Dean Foods said that it had concluded a strategic review and decided against a sale. CEO Eric Beringause joined the company three months ago after serving as chief executive of dairy producer Gehl Foods.
Dean Foods' business has struggled as more consumers turn to nondairy milk or buy private label products. Americans' per capita consumption of fluid milk has fallen 26% in the last two decades, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Walmart began processing its own milk in 2017. Walmart's decision sparked upheaval, leading Dean Foods to cancel more than 100 milk contracts with dairy farmers across eight states. Compounding the company's problems, grocery chain Food Lion cut ties with the milk producer in 2018.
In seven of its last eight quarters, Dean Foods has reported a net loss.
Dean Foods Co.
DF, +2.29%
has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, with the dairy company saying it was working toward an "orderly" sale of the company. The company, which brands include DairyPure, Land O Lakes and Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms, said it has secured commitments for $850 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to support its operations during the process. The company said it has been in advanced discussions with the Dairy Farmers of America Inc. regarding the potential sales of substantially all of its assets. "The actions we are announcing today are designed to enable us to continue serving our customers and operating as normal as we work toward the sale of our business," said Chief Executive Eric Beringause. "Despite our best efforts to make our business more agile and cost-efficient, we continue to be impacted by a challenging operating environment marked by continuing declines in consumer milk consumption." The stock, which was halted for news, had closed Monday at 80 cents. It had plunged 79% year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX, -0.20%
has climbed 23%.
LONDON (Reuters) - World shares inched higher on Tuesday as investors awaited a speech by President Donald Trump on U.S. trade policy and on news he was likely to delay a decision on European auto tariffs.
Bond markets also seemed increasingly confident a recession will be avoided as EU officials said Trump was expected to announce this week that he was delaying the tariff decision on EU cars and parts for another six months.
The news boosted expectations about Trump's speech later in the day and for some resolution to his administration's long-running trade war with China.
The pan-European shuffled 0.2% higher, back towards 4-year highs helped by upbeat chipmaker shares. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan had climbed 0.5%, following a sharp 1.2% pullback on Monday.
Japan's , which dithered either side of flat most of the day, ended 0.8% higher. But Shanghai blue chips eased 0.2% after bank lending growth undershot analysts' estimates, while Australian shares were down, too.
A positive signal on U.S.-China trade would likely satisfy traders even without specific details, said Rob Marshall-Lee investment leader for Emerging Market and Asian Equities at Newton Investment Management.
"I think that there will be some kind of deal that comes of all of this," Marshall-Lee said, adding that whatever emerges both Washington and Beijing will want to claim it as a win domestically.
Trump wrongfooted markets over the weekend when he said there had been incorrect reporting about U.S. willingness to lift tariffs on China.
Investors were also anxious about the situation in Hong Kong after a violent escalation of protests had knocked 3% off the and nearly 2% off Asia-exposed banks HSBC and StanChart in recent days.
Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said protesters who are trying to "paralyze" the city were extremely selfish and hoped all universities and schools would urge students not to participate in violence.
Lam was speaking a day after police shot a protester and a man was set on fire in some of the most dramatic scenes to grip the city during the more than five months of civil unrest. The Hang Seng managed to claw back 0.5%.
BORIS GETS BREXIT BOOST
Bond markets were also stirring again.
A partial holiday in the United States had closed the Treasury market on Monday but there was an early milestone on Tuesday with the gap between short-term 3-month and longer-term 10-year yields hitting the widest level of the year so far.
That widening, or steepening of the 'curve' as it is also known, adds to signs that faith in the global economy in gaining again after fears it was heading into recession.
Treasury yields on 10-year notes were fractionally higher at 1.9350% having dropping away from last week's three-month top of 1.97%. European yields were also a touch higher.
Wall Street futures for the inched up 0.1%. Monday's partial holiday had made for a quiet session after the record highs of last week. The ended up 0.04%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.20% and the Nasdaq 0.13%.
In currency markets, the main mover was sterling which gave back ground after surging on Monday after the Brexit Party said it would not contest previously Conservative held seats in the last UK election.
It had jumped to a 6-month high versus the euro and as much as 1% on the dollar but shed around 0.3% to 0.86 per euro and $1.2823 when Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage then said on Tuesday he would not give any more ground.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar steadied at 98.224. The euro hovered around $1.1030 just away from a three-week low of $1.1015, while the dollar faded to 109.26 yen.
Gold looked to be heading for a third day of declines, touching its lowest since early August at $1,447.89 per ounce. It was last trading at $1,453.01.
gained 28 cents to $57.14 a barrel, while futures added 35 cents to $62.53.
European stocks edged higher on Tuesday ahead of a critical speech on China trade relations from President Donald Trump, supported by generally well-received earnings.
The Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP, +0.20%,
which finished Monday only 2% below its record close, increased 0.12% to 405.81.
The German DAX
DAX, +0.47%
increased 0.29% to 13236.76, the French CAC 40
PX1, +0.28%
gained 0.15% to 5902.52 and the U.K. FTSE 100
UKX, +0.32%
rose 0.28% to 7349.30.
Trump at 12 p.m. Eastern is due to deliver a speech to the Economic Club of New York. “Whatever the tone of the remarks, the effect on markets is likely to be short term. We are just a tweet away from a policy change, and the next communication on trade could reverse market assumptions,” said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Infineon Technologies
IFX, +6.97%
climbed 5% as the German chip maker reported better fourth-quarter revenue and operating profit than forecast, helped by its unit that produces chips for smartphones. Infineon’s outlook implies strong sales growth in the second half of its fiscal year, according to Gianmarco Bonacina, an analyst at Equita, the Italian broker.
B&M European Value Retail
BME, -6.24%
tumbled 7.3%. The discount retailer experienced a worse than expected 2.8% decline in adjusted pretax profit as the company reported “continued disappointing financial performance in Germany” and slowing same-store sales growth at its U.K. stores.
Electrocomponents
ECM, -11.16%
shares slumped 13.6% as the distributor of industrial and electronics products said the second half started with “modest growth” with “ongoing softness in electronics.”
(Reuters) - The latest bargaining chip in U.S.-China negotiations to cool a 16-month-old trade war is whether President Donald Trump would roll back tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese imports, and how soon.
FILE PHOTO: A 100 yuan banknote (R) is placed next to a $100 banknote in this picture illustration taken in Beijing November 7, 2010. REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic/File Photo
The Trump administration began imposing the tariffs in July 2018 on industrial components and technology goods from China. After Beijing retaliated with higher duties on U.S. farm goods, Trump struck back with more tariffs - many already enacted, some still threatened - under which the vast majority of Chinese imports could be affected by the end of 2019.
As U.S. and Chinese negotiators close in on a “phase one” trade deal, expectations are rising that at least some of these tariffs will be removed.
China’s Commerce Ministry and a U.S. official said on Nov. 7 that a deal would include tariff rollbacks, but Trump undercut the idea after pushback from China hawks in his administration, saying he has not decided to do so.
Following is a look at current and planned U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, listed in reverse chronological order. Trade experts say the most recent tariffs would be the likeliest to be removed.
The United States is scheduled to levy 15% tariffs on about $156 billion of Chinese products on Dec. 15, including cellphones, laptop computers, toys and clothing - known as “List 4B.”
People briefed on the trade talks say the United States has effectively agreed not to proceed with this round of tariffs as part of the phase one trade deal. A U.S. official has said the fate of these tariffs would be considered as part of the final negotiation over the deal’s text.
CANCELED OCT. 15 RATE INCREASE
After an early October round of talks led to a White House handshake on the interim deal with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Trump decided not to proceed with an Oct. 15 increase on tariffs on about $250 billion worth of Chinese goods to 30% from the 25% rate already imposed.
If talks to complete the text for the phase one trade deal collapse, Trump could move to reimpose this increase. Affected goods range widely from industrial components and semiconductors to furniture and building materials.
The United States imposed a 15% tariff on about $125 billion of goods on Sept. 1, 2019, including flat-panel television sets, flash memory devices, smart speakers, Bluetooth headphones, bed linens, multifunction printers and many types of footwear.
Trump imposed these tariffs, and set the Dec. 15 duties in motion, after a late-July round of negotiations failed to result in a major increase of Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods. The phase one trade deal now being discussed would roughly double such purchases from pre-trade-war levels over a period of time, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
People familiar with the discussions say that China has asked for these Sept. 1 tariffs to be removed as part of the deal and the request is being considered.
MAY 10 TARIFF RATE INCREASE
On May 10, 2019, Trump increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from 10% after China pulled back from a proposed deal that U.S. officials said was nearly completed.
The higher tariffs applied to nearly 6,000 products that were originally taxed in September 2018, from computer modems and routers to vacuum cleaners, lighting fixtures and furniture.
The U.S. trade representative’s office issued exclusions on hundreds of these products in September 2019, including some computer circuit boards, laminated wood flooring and dog collars.
SEPT. 24, 2018, $200 BILLION TARIFF ACTION: "LIST 3" here
Trump imposed tariffs on a $200 billion list of Chinese imports on Sept. 24, 2018, after Beijing retaliated against an initial U.S. volley of tariffs with its own duties on American farm products and manufactured goods.
This list of product tariffs, and the two previous lists below, may be the least likely to be rolled back, trade experts and people familiar with the talks say, adding that keeping some tariffs in place would maintain leverage over China for future negotiations. Trump has said he will not do a complete rollback of tariffs on Chinese goods.
AUG/SEPT 2018 TARIFFS, $50 BILLION "LIST 1" here "LIST 2" here
The first U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports imposed in the summer of 2018 covered $50 billion of Chinese goods considered core to U.S. “Section 301” allegations that China systematically steals and forces the transfer of American intellectual property to Chinese firms.
These initial lists were composed primarily of Chinese-made industrial components, machinery, semiconductors and other non-consumer goods aimed at inflicting pain on Chinese exporters while minimizing the impact on U.S. manufacturers.
The “List 1” tariffs on an initial $34 billion in Chinese goods were imposed on July 6, 2018, while a second list of $16 billion “List 2” tariffs went into effect on Aug. 23, 2018.
Reporting by David Lawder and Heather Timmons in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Leslie Adler
